On September 11, 2024, the first activity of the project “Creation of a digital platform for the promotion of the territory” (PLACOD), a training seminar entitled “City: Image & Marketing”, took place at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the University of Shkodër. The event brought together representatives and officials of the local government of Shkodër, as well as cultural institutions of the central government, and the Rector of the University of Shkodër, Professor Tonin Gjuraj.
The seminar hosted the speakers Manjola Lloja Bushati, the Municipality of Shkodër, Giovanna Scianatico, CISVA – Interuniversity Center for Travel Studies in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, Melisa Paci, Founder and Director of the Art House Cultural Foundation, Shkodër. Project Manager, Associate Professor Alma Hafizi, presented the project, thanking the AUF for the opportunity and financial support. In her speech, she emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration within the university, between academia, the socio-cultural environment, and public institutions responsible for the development and promotion of the territory. The panel was designed as a triangle of collaboration between local authorities, academia, and private initiative.
Speaker Manjola Bushati (Municipality of Shkodër) highlighted the challenges related to the territorial promotion of Shkodër. First, it is essential to adopt a positive approach to highlight the beauty and potential of the territory. It is necessary to convey a neat image of the city, which has so much to offer, but the marketing approach and the details that make the difference have often been lacking in the past. The speaker mentioned the four art festivals held in Shkodër, as well as the Art House Foundation, which she presented as individual initiatives representing Shkodër’s assets to the world, and vice versa, the world’s treasures in Shkodër. It is crucial to recognize the existing problems so that the relevant institutions can identify the right mechanisms and structures to improve the city’s image and promote what really exists, but often remains hidden. The speaker also drew the attention of the participants to the specific role of the bicycle, an element that makes Shkodër and its cycling network unique. Finally, a promotional video of Lake Shkodër was presented, highlighting the shortcomings in tourism promotion of the region, which is so far mainly known for its lakeside gastronomy.
The speaker, Prof. Giovanna Scianatico, President of CISVA, discussed the importance of literary tourism, which is based on authors and the places where they lived. Fiction or travel literature allows us to trace the itineraries of travelers since ancient times. She presented CISVA’s experience in designing literary itineraries, illustrating her point with some examples: the letters of the Princess of Spain sent to her husband during her trip to Italy. Anyone who wants to undertake a trip and refers to the travelers’ correspondence will find a rich and valuable source of information. The place markers of the places mentioned in these letters draw the image of the cities where the trip took place and provide the route to follow to reach them. The descriptions can be detailed or more distant, but they offer information on landscapes, cultural values, heritage sites, hotels, restaurants, and each element becomes a link with the experience lived by the traveler. This type of story allows the traveler to tailor his or her own itinerary. The target group of this virtual platform is vast, encompassing both tourists and students seeking cultural enrichment.
The speaker Melisa Paci explained the history of ArtHouse, founded ten years ago, a private reality that has become a true meeting point between international and local art. Its location is at the intersection of the city’s Ottoman and Western architectural influences, as is the activity that develops there, involving local and foreign artists, from the old and new generations, who have returned to Shkodër and Albania. These artists share a vision of art, not only as an obligation for institutions, but also as a living link with everyday life and the environment that surrounds them. The guests, far from presenting themselves as tour guides, make themselves known in the city through their active collaboration with the local environment, addressing not only the challenges, but also the growing potential of Shkodër as a dynamic place where art becomes a living conversation.
The activities are not limited to ephemeral advertisements that leave few traces but aim above all to establish continuity. The aim is to go beyond the walls of the institution and open to the city. A concrete example of this openness is the “Art Screen” festival, inspired by the Florence Festival. The first innovation was the event at the Millennium, marking the return of cinema to public space, with open-air screenings, in city courtyards. These spaces thus become places where the screening of a film is integrated into local history, creating a dynamic of interaction with often little-known or invisible sites.
In his closing speech, the Rector of the University of Shkodër, Professor Tonin Gjuraj, welcomed the project, emphasizing the importance of internationalization and digitalization for the promotion of the territory. He recalled the university’s considerable impact on society and expressed his thanks to the AUF for its support, while calling for strengthening collaboration with this organization.
